Global financial meltdown means we must intensify our efforts concludes High Level Group on Education for All

Oslo, 18 December

Participants at the High Level Group meeting on Education for All (EFA), organized by UNESCO and the Government of Norway, on 17 December urgently called on national governments to allocate at least four to six percent of GNP and 15 to 20 per cent of public expenditure to education. In the Oslo Declaration, adopted at the close of the meeting, they also urged development partners to increase official development assistance and give priority to investment in basic education.

Stagnation in aid commitments, which has left a funding gap of seven billion dollars annually, and a cut in the share of national income to education in some countries, is a cause of serious concern and must be reversed, said the representatives from 39 governments including several major donor countries, intergovernmental organizations and civil society. This was especially critical in the current climate of economic global meltdown, they said.

The Declaration stressed that education “is one of the most effective tools” for achieving “economic growth and recovery, reducing poverty, hunger and child labour” and “improving health, incomes and livelihoods”. “Steadfast support” for achieving internationally agreed development goals, including Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals, is thus “even more vital than it was before the crisis.”

The Oslo Declaration also endorsed the creation of an International Task Force on “Teachers for EFA”, a voluntary alliance of EFA partners working together to address the global, and growing, shortage of teachers.

“Without adequate numbers of professionally qualified teachers, including female teachers, who are deployed in the right places, well-remunerated and motivated, adequately supported and proficient in local languages, we cannot offer the world’s children quality education” said the High Level Group.

An estimated 18 million new primary teachers will be needed in the next seven years to achieve universal primary education by the target date of 2015.

The new Task Force will coordinate and monitor activities to close the teacher gap within a specific time frame. The composition and mandate of this force will be finalized in the coming months.

The importance of equity in education was considered another priority by the High Level Group. On present trends, they said, at least 29 million children will still have no access to primary school in 2015. Reaching these children, they said, requires policies focused on reducing disparities based on gender, wealth, rural/urban and other differences. It also requires national governments to expand early childhood care and basic education; ensure affordable learning opportunities at post-primary levels and address adult literacy needs.

The High-Level Group meeting is an annual event that brings together top-level representatives from government, development agencies, UN agencies, civil society and the private sector. Its role is to reinforce political will in order to accelerate progress towards Education for All, strengthen partnerships, identify priorities and mobilize more resources. The Oslo session, its eighth meeting, was opened by the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg with UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, H.M Queen Rania of Jordan, H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade on 16 December. A video message from United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, was also presented.

• Author(s):Press Release N°2008-130
• Source:UNESCOPRESS
• 18-12-2008